Don't speak too soon
by Taimmi
Summary: As the relationship between Nick and Zoe continues to blossom, some twists of fate continue to create waves in the ED...
1. Chapter 1

_This is my first Casualty fanfic, so I'll be starting with my favourite pairing, Zoe & Nick!_

Frantically pulling on a pair of socks, Zoe glanced at the alarm clock on her bedside table. 7:36am. "Shit…" she mumbled under her breath. Adam _really _wasn't going to be happy with her. 'Late' really wasn't a word that appeared in his dictionary.

As Zoe was fumbling around with the laces of her shoes, she felt a warm hand rest on her shoulder. "Don't worry, I'll give you a lift."

Zoe closed her eyes and smiled. "Mr Jordan, you really are my saviour, aren't you?"

"No, just doing my job," he smirked.

Zoe looked up at him, and noticed that he was already dressed. How had he managed to get up after her, but still be ready to leave the apartment before her? That man is a mystery, she thought to herself; but I wouldn't have him any other way.

Almost as soon as they arrived in the ED, Adam was there. Zoe grimaced. "Ah, Dr Hannah, I suppose you have another amazing excuse for me today?" he said while sorting through several patient charts. She shook her head submissively. "No, not today, Dr Trueman."

Nick smirked at her again before placing his stethoscope around his neck and wandering into one of the resus rooms.

Zoe glanced at Adam's charts from over his shoulder. "So… have we got any interesting cases in today?"

"No… everything seems quiet this morning. Touch woo-"

BANG!

The double doors leading into the ED crashed open, banging against the walls with an almost deafening amount of noise. Two green-clad paramedics were leading in a stretcher carrying one not-so-happy individual. Adam sighed, wiping his brow. Zoe put a hand on his shoulder, laughing, "I guess you spoke to soon!"

She ran off to join the paramedics to begin her briefing, "Right, we've got a serious RTA resulting in three casualties!" one of the ambulance staff said.

"So… where are the others?" Zoe asked.

"This gentleman came by helicopter – the pilot said there wasn't enough fuel to get the other two casualties on board as well, so the other two are coming by land ambulance."

Adam jogged along beside Zoe, listening in on the briefing. "Have we found a next of kin to inform?"

The paramedic nodded, consulting a piece of paper in his pocket. "Yep, I've got it right here… he said he has a son… Adam Trueman."

Adam stopped dead in his tracks, dropping his stethoscope that he'd had in his hand. He peered in at the bruised and blood-covered face that lay in the orange head restraint on the stretcher. "…Dad…?" he whispered.


	2. Chapter 2

Staring straight back at Adam, the man in the stretcher struggled to speak, "Adam… my boy…" he said in a hoarse whisper.

Adam was speechless; he stood still on the spot with his mouth gaping, and his eyes were beginning to glisten with fresh tears. The paramedic didn't understand, and was starting to get angry. "Listen, mate, are you gonna do your job here or what?"

Adam was suddenly pulled back into reality. He sniffed and wiped his brow, trying to stop his emotions getting the better of him. But before he could speak, Zoe took his arm and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "Go sit down. We'll look after him."

Adam nodded, and walked away into the staff room, but he looked back at his father in the stretcher several times before shutting the door behind him. "Right guys, get him into resus two, please…" Zoe said, taking firm control of the situation, "So, what have we got here, then?" she asked the paramedics.

"Mr Trueman; he's hypertensive and diabetic with suspected dislocated wrist and tibia fracture from a multi-vehicle RTC."

"How much morphine have you given him for the pain?"

"4 milligrams."

"Tess, give him another four milligrams and prepare some entinox for when we relocate the wrist joint, please."

Tess nodded, finished putting the IV line in and went to prepare the pain relief, but the man in the stretcher started groaning, and the machine he was linked to started bleeping. Zoe rushed over, studying the monitor. "His BP has dropped! He must be bleeding from somewhere… Someone get Nick, please!"

One of the paramedics rushed out, and came back with Nick a few seconds later. "Where is Adam?" asked Zoe.

"He's still in the staff room."  
Zoe nodded. "Good. I don't want him to see this."

Nick pulled down the blanket that was covering Adam's father and starting tapping his chest through the back of his hand. He grimaced, and ran over to pull a trolley of surgical equipment over to the bed. "He's got a haemothorax. We're going to need to drain the blood, and fast…"

Everyone gowned up as fast as they could, and anxiously watched Nick make the incision and start to drain the blood from the lungs. After several minutes, the alarms on the machine were still sounding, and the man was now unconscious, even though the blood was now draining through at less than a trickle. Sweat was starting to bead on Nick's forehead as he was biting his lip. Suddenly, a huge quantity of blood drained out, and Tess looked up to study the monitor, and the bleeping stopped. "Stats are stabilising," she sighed, "Well done Mr Jordan."

Nick gave a slight smile whilst standing straight and pulling off his gloves. "I thought for a moment there I was losing my touch," he said, and ripped off his green gown he had put on over his best suit. "Would someone like to go fetch Dr Trueman? Tell him his father is just fine."

Zoe and Nick gave each other a warm smile as they walked out of the room through the swinging double doors. He took her hand and looked fondly down at her. "Would you care to join me in my office for a drink, Dr Hannah?"

Zoe laughed, "Of course, Mr Jordan!" She said sarcastically as she followed him down the corridor, both with smiles on their faces.

_Awww, how sweet is that? =) I love a happy ending! Stay tuned for more chapters, people!_


	3. Chapter 3

As Zoe pulled up a chair in Nick's office, Nick started closing the blinds. She took off her stethoscope from around her neck and placed it on his desk, "What's all this about, then?"

Nick opened the drinks cabinet and poured two glasses of red wine, handing one to Zoe, then sat down. "Well, I've been thinking about this for a while," he said, taking a sip of the wine, "And as you well know… I haven't got a great deal of time left in me." He gestured to the left side of his head, where his scar from surgery was still clearly visible through his hair.

Zoe put her glass down and crossed her arms. "What have you been worrying about now, Nick?" she said in an exasperated tone.

He shook his head, "I haven't been worrying about anything, as such…" he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his desk, "I wanted to know whether you would be interested in helping me complete this list Adam and I devised…" he reached into the pocket inside his suit, pulling out a neatly folded piece of paper, and handed it to Zoe.

She began to read it for a few seconds with a slight frown on her face before bursting out with laughter. "Ha! Ha… oh I'm sor- HA!" she exclaimed, unable to get her words out amid bursts of laughter.

"What?" Nick said, wrinkled forming on his forehead where he was frowning at her, "What? What is it?" He promptly half-snatched the list from her while she was bent over double in the chair, giggling.

"It's… it's just…" she paused, trying to calm herself, "I just can't picture you… well, bungee jumping!"

He folded the paper up, putting it back into his pocket. "Well…" he said, realising the humorous side to the situation, "I would look a bit out of place, wouldn't I?"

Zoe almost choked on her mouthful of wine, "A bit? You would stick out like a sore thumb!"

He smiled at her fondly. "Yeah, yeah, enough with the insults, will you?"

"Alright, but you have to admit, it _is_ rather funny!"

Nick leaned over, picking up the wine bottle to refill their glasses. "I've got another copy of the list in the top draw over there." He gestured over to a chest of drawers near the door.

Zoe got up and started to open it, "Well, Mr Jordan, I'm intrigued to see what you have on this list of yours!" she began in a mock-posh accent, "There might be a few…" she broke off, looking down into the drawer.

There wasn't a list in there; not even a piece of paper. Instead, there was a little red velvet box. She opened it, and found a gold ring with a gorgeous diamond embedded into it. Her jaw was almost hitting the floor. She whipped round to look at Nick, only to find he had crept up behind her and was down on one knee. "Zoe Hanna… will you marry me?"

Zoe took his hand and lifted it up to kiss it. "Of course I will, Nick…"

A huge smile suddenly appeared on both of their faces, and he lifted her up, spinning around the room, before stopping and looking down at her soft brown eyes. "Hmm… well, that's one thing I can cross off the list!"


	4. Chapter 4

Jay sprinted back into the nurses station, carrying a suspicious looking package under his shirt. He ducked behind the desks, pulling an office chair out of his way to hide under a desk. He took the bundle from under his shirt, and did the thumbs up sign. Nearly everyone in the ED, from porters to surgeons, was hiding under the desks. Tess was kneeling next to him. "You got them!" she whispered, smiling.

He opened the bag of party poppers, and passed them down so everyone had one each. "Yeah, I told you – I'm like an elephant, I never forget!" he joked back to her, and Tess smiled and shook her head.

"Hey, Gramps!" Jay called out whilst peeping his head over the desk, "Can you see them yet?"

Charlie was standing by the window, peering out into the car park below. "No, not yet… wait… that's Zoe's Mini!" his eyes opened wide and he jogged over as fast as he could to hide behind the desk before the ping of the lift sounded a few seconds later.

"Doors opening," the mechanic voice chimed, and the sound of two pairs of shoes walking out of the lift echoed around the empty ED.

"Oh, I don't believe this…" Nick said in his characteristic 'grumpy Mr Jordan' voice, which caused a few people under the desks to have to stifle their giggles rather quickly. "Where the hell is everyone?"

Jay held up three fingers, then two, then one… "Surprise!" Everyone shouted as they popped up from behind the desks, filling the air with confetti from the smoking party poppers.

Zoe and Nick were both in pleasant shock, pulling bits of multicoloured paper from their hair and clothes amidst numerous hugs and best wishes from the ED staff. When Jay reached Zoe to give her his own congratulations, Zoe pointed at him, "You!" she laughed, "I knew I could never trust you to keep a secret!" They both laughed.

Nick joined Zoe after he had received all the congratulations that he could put up with for one day; although they would probably get countless more throughout the day as the gossip spread when people changed over shifts. "Well, I certainly wasn't expecting that!" he laughed, placing his arm around her waist and walking over to the staff room.

"Me neither… I'm sorry Nick – I only told one person. I didn't expect that it would be all over the hospital by the next day," she explained as she opened her locker and put her bag in it.

"Don't worry about it. I wasn't too keen on keeping it a secret for long, anyway," he said as he was sorting some envelopes out in his own locker, "In the ED, they do gossip almost as good as they do medicine."

Zoe laughed and shut her locker, then leant against the wall. "There's such a nice atmosphere in here for a change; almost as if nothing could go wrong."

"Now don't say that!" Nick mused, "You know, superstition and everything."

That morning, the ED was unusually quiet, with only three broken fingers, an ear infection, and a child with a felt tip pen stuck in its nostril. However – circumstances in that department can change at the drop of a hat.

Noel picked up the phone at reception. "Hello, Holby City emergency department? How many? Two? Alright… Oh… Yep. Okay. I'll organise everything. Thanks." He put down the phone and jogged into the staff room where Ruth, Nick, Zoe and Adam were on their break. "Sorry guys, but we've just got two admissions from St James' Mental Health Clinic. One of them has stabbed the other in the chest, and they need Mr Jordan's experience in that field."

Reluctantly, the four of them got up and started to prepare the resus rooms. Just as they finished, Jeff and Dixie wheeled the first patient in. He had lost a large amount of blood, which was made obvious by the soaked sheets that he was clutching to his chest whilst moaning with the pain. "This is Harold Finnigan, fifty six years old, lives in St James' Mental Health Clinic," Jeff informed them as he manoeuvred the bed round near the wall, "He was stabbed by a fellow patient, resulting in two deep lacerations to the chest and a possible partially collapsed lung."

Nick dived straight in, inspecting his injuries as the others started to prepare pain relief. "Where's the attacker then?" Zoe asked.

"He had to be taken in a separate ambulance," Dixie explained, "They were both still fighting with each other, even though one of them was almost bleeding to death. He should be arriving in the next few minutes or so."

Zoe nodded and put on a pair of gloves. "I'll go prepare the room next door to stop any further… mishaps," she said, and went into Resus 2.

When the man's attacker arrived, it became apparent that the man was dangerous. He was attatched to a police officer with a pair of handcuffs, and was shouting abuse at the man. "You!" he pointed at Zoe, his eyes wide with anger, "I hate you, you know that? The whole lot of you! I don't belong here! LEAVE ME ALONE!"

Zoe frowned, realising that this wasn't going to be an easy case. She prepared some mild sedatives to calm him down, and after they were administered, closed his eyes and started muttering softly as he appeared near dead to the world. "Is he always like this?" she joked to the police officer who was now sitting on a stool next to the bed.

"I've been called out to that nursing home a few times – always down to him," he said as Zoe was rummaging around in some cupboards to find some bandages, "He's a real trouble ma…"

He stopped suddenly and with a thump. Zoe spun around, only to see that the man on the bed was fully conscious, sitting up straight on the bed, and wielding a knife. He was breathing hard through gritted teeth, and the whites of his eyes were clearly visible as he opened them wide. "Act normal, or I swear I will carve your heart out," he said in a deep, menacing tone.

_Oh, the suspense! I thought I would make a little twist in the story for you! If you want to see more chapters, then please R & R so I know what to improve! Constructive criticism is appreciated!_


	5. Chapter 5

Zoe took several deep breaths, trying to control the thoughts that were racing around her head. She couldn't stop staring wide-eyed at the knife the man was wielding in front of her. She felt like raising her hands as a sign of submission, but that would make things to obvious for anyone looking in through the windows.

"Move over there," the man gestured with the knife, "Good…"

He got up and started to pace around the room, looking out of the glass windows in paranoia. Sweat started beading on Zoe's forehead as she started to try and come up with an escape plan. _I need to do something to occupy him while I think of something…_ she thought. "So…" she crossed her arms, trying to appear more relaxed than she was, "What's your name? Mine's Zoe."

He stared at her whenever he faced her way in the middle of his pacing. "It's Joseph…" he said in a low voice, then he ran up to Zoe, putting his face uncomfortably close to hers, "But why do you care? So you can tell the coppers? Yeah, go on then!"

When he returned to pacing, Zoe reached into her pockets to find her pager. "So, Joseph, do you want me to stitch that gash on your head up?"

She delved into the cupboards, pretending to try and find some stitching equipment, when she was really trying to page Nick and the others. TAKEN HOSTAGE – CALL POLICE. BE CARE— the pager suddenly made a bleeping sound, and Joseph sprinted over, snatching her pager and throwing it across the room to smash against the wall. He grabbed her by the wrists, breathing heavily in her face. "Don't you ever… ever… try that again," he whispered darkly, "But here's a warning… just in case you forget…"

He lifted her hand, and moved the knife over. Zoe gritted her teeth, trying not to fight back as she knew it would force the madman to do something even more ridiculous. He started to press the knife into the soft flesh of her palm. Zoe whimpered and gasped, which made him press it in further. Blood started to drip down her arm.

"Now, you're going to be a good girl and get me out of here," he said, cleaning the knife on his shirt, "Yes?" Zoe nodded in compliance. "Good girl. Get ready to leave. Now."

Zoe started to breath heavier in panic. _I can't let him get out of here…_ she looked over into the next resus room to see Nick in his element, assessing the injuries of the other patient. _I need to grab his attention somehow._

Suddenly, a thought struck Zoe. "Joseph… Before I get you out of here I just need to sign some papers… you know, just to make it look a little less suspicious, yeah?"

Joseph didn't look too keen. "It'll help me get out?"

She nodded. "Good," he said, "But if I find out you're lying; you're dead." He made his point even clearer by brandishing his knife when saying the latter.

Zoe took off her green surgical gown and placed it on the worktop next to a pile of random papers. She took a pen and pretended to write on them, although she was really writing on the back of her gown. TAKEN HOSTAGE – CALL POLICE.

She put the gown back on as quick as possible before Joseph suspected she was doing anything suspicious. "Right… I think everything is in order…" she said. Her heart was beating so fast, she thought that she might faint on the spot. _Please work, please work, please work…_ she repeated to herself over and over again.

She took the papers and leant against the glass wall that was visible from the other resus room, pretending to look over the papers. "Right…" she said, her hands visibly shaking with fear, "I think everything is in order." _Please look over… oh God, Nick, please look over…_

Joseph was staring at her yet again, keeping tabs on her every move. "Hurry up, woman!" he snapped, not realising how loud he was talking, "Just get me out of this damn place!"

Zoe's knees were starting to wobble, although she was doing her best to stand up straight. "Er… I just need you to, um, sign this form…"  
She picked out a random sheet of paper from the stack she was holding, hoping it would include some kind of consent part where a patient would have to sign. It was actually a consent from for a caesarean section – although he would be too focused on trying to escape to freedom to actually look at what he was signing… wouldn't he?

He grunted in anger, flashing Zoe a look of what looked like a mixture of impatience and suspicion. He scribbled at the bottom of the sheet then thrusted it back to her. "Take me out," he said, "Now!"

Suddenly, a group of armed police stampeded through the crash doors. "Police! Stay where you are!"

All guns were focused on Joseph. Now, it was his turn to be scared. "Put your hands in the air!" The man complied.

Zoe breathed a sigh of relief, seeing that everything was going to be under control. Beyond the helmets of the armed officers, she could see the worried and concerned face of Nick looking straight at her. _Don't worry, _he mouthed to her.

Surprisingly, Joseph was letting the police carry him away. Two officers took him from under the arms and lifted him swiftly out of the room. However, on his way out, he eyed Zoe with that same mad look, and lifted his hand to make the action of slitting her throat. She gulped.

Nick ran in, giving her a huge hug and lifting her into the air. "Are you ok? You gave us all such a fright…" he held her hand, then pulled it away when he felt the moist, warm blood that covered it. "Zoe… did he do this?"

She nodded, then burst into tears, embracing him yet again. "It's alright," he said, rubbing her back lovingly, "Everything is ok now."

He pulled away, giving her a fond smile. "Thank you so much, Nick…" she said, wiping away the tears that were streaming down her cheeks.

"Let's go get that hand of yours sorted, shall we?" he said, and winked at her.

_**I'm going on holiday on the 20**__**th**__** (I'M GOING TO MISS THE LAST EPISODE OF THE SERIES!) so I'm going to try and fit in as many chapters as I can. Please R&R xxx**_


	6. Chapter 6

Pouring himself a glass of orange juice, Nick started rubbing the scar on the side of his head. It had become a habit lately – he wanted to remind himself that he was living on borrowed time, and that he couldn't afford to waste a minute. "Did you want a coffee?" he called over his shoulder.

"Please!" a voice shouted from the bedroom.

Nick walked in and handed Zoe a steaming mug of coffee. Milk and two sugars, just as she liked it. She sat up in the bed and wrapped the duvet around her, taking a long sip of the coffee. "Back to the grind, eh?" she said as Nick was putting on his tie. He was always one to try to arrive as early as possible to work, whereas she was the complete opposite. But they liked it that way.

"Mmm," Nick said in agreement, "Come on! I'll be ready to leave before you even get out of bed!" He mused.

Zoe laughed and swung her legs out of the bed, but she suddenly started to wobble once she got on her feet. "Whoa, are you ok?" Nick said with a concerned look as he placed his firm hands on her shoulders to steady her.

Zoe put on a brave face, not wanting to let on to Nick that she wasn't feeling well. She knew he loved her and everything, but sometimes he could be a little over-protective. Well, VERY over-protective. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Got up to quickly – head rush."

He gave her a very dubious look, as if to say, _"I know you're lying, but I'll let it slide just this once."_

The first half of the shift was surprisingly uneventful. If anything can be uneventful in the ED. Adam walked into the staff room where Zoe was already on her break. "Morning, Zo," he said cheerfully whilst opening his locker, "How're you?"

"Well, I've been better," she said.

Adam looked past his locker door, seeing her bent over the sink. "Hey, what's the matter?" he walked over and brushed a strand of short, dark hair behind her ear so he could see her face. "It's nothing, really," she said defensively when she realised that Adam was actually very concerned.

"Zo, I don't think it's nothing. Come on, this isn't like you. Something must be up. Hmm?" he said softly, trying to pry out the issue.

She shook her head, standing abruptly upright and wiping her brow with her sleeve. "Really, I'm fine. I'm just feeling a bit rough today – no need to fuss," she said, and quickly exited the room before Adam could say any more. He shook his head and started to make some coffee.

"Adam, could I just get a second opinion on this?" Nick said, motioning Adam over with a wad of files.

"Yeah, of course," he said, squeezing past Noel into reception.

Nick picked out an X-ray from the file, "Does this look fractured to you? I can't tell whether it's a greenstick fracture or my eyes are just getting old and decrepit," he joked.

Adam held the X-ray up to the light for a few seconds, "Yeah, that's a greenstick fracture alright, although it is hard to spot."

Nick smiled in response, "Thanks," he said, and began to walk into cubicles.

"Nick, wait!"

He turned round with his hand on the curtain, ready to pull it open. "Hmm?"

"Can I just talk to you for a second?"

Nick nodded. "Sure." He walked into a quiet side corridor. "What did you want to talk about?"

Adam paused, not quite knowing how to phrase what he wanted to say. "I'm a little worried about Zoe."

Nick's forehead creased with worry. "Why, what's the matter?"

"She's been acting odd. I found her bent over the sink in the staff room and she was looking fairly pale. I was wondering if you had any idea as to what was wrong."

Nick shook his head. "No, not a clue," he said, although his mind cast back to this morning when she almost fainted. "I'll see if I can find out."

Adam nodded and they went their separate ways.

Putting down the phone and sighing heavily, Nick scribbled something down on a sheet of paper. He was beginning to think he would never get a theatre slot for an appendectomy. He briefly glanced up and saw Zoe running into the toilets. He jogged over, following her in. One of the cubicle doors slammed shut in front of him, and a retching sound suddenly started coming from behind it. "Zo? Zoe?" he said softly, gently pushing the door open. "Oh, Zoe…"

She was knelt on the floor with her head over the toilet bowl. She had obviously been sick. He took her hands and helped her up, propping her against the cubicle wall. He ripped off some toilet paper from the roll and started to wipe her mouth. "Nick, I'm fine… there's no need to fuss…" she tried to stop him, but gave up when she realised it wasn't going to work.

"How long have you been feeling like this?" he whispered.

"Not long… just a few days…"

"A few days?" he exclaimed, "And you didn't think to tell me?"

She ran her fingers through her hair, "I didn't want to worry you," she explained.

"Zoe…" he said, squeezing her hand, "Have you thought that this could be… that this could be morning sickness?"

Zoe started frantically shaking her head. "No – no, I don't think it is. It's just food poisoning or something. You know, from that curry we had the other night?"

He laughed and smiled at her lovingly. "Shouldn't you take a test? Just to be sure?"

Zoe bit her lip. He didn't know that she was basically infertile, even with the fertility treatment she had been taking in the vain hope that she would conceive.

She paused for a moment. "Yeah. I will. You never know… but… Nick, please don't get your hopes up. It could all just be a false alarm."

He gave her a sweet smile. "I love you, Zoe Hanna, whatever happens."

At the end of the day, Zoe finally caved in. Thoughts had been racing through her head all afternoon. _Could I be pregnant? I've only got a 25% chance… I can't get my hopes up. It's probably just a bit of food poisoning. But what if…? _

When the time got round to when she had actually taken the test, she quickly dashed into Nick's office. If she wasn't pregnant, she didn't want to actually tell him the bad news. He looked up from his computer screen when she walked in, eager to know the news – good or bad. "Did you take a test?"

Zoe nodded, taking it out of her sleeve where she had hidden it. He rushed over and sat down next to her on the sofa. "How long ago did you do it?"

"Er, about 5 minutes ago."

He grinned the grin that only Nick Jordan could pull off – the rare one that he only used on special occasions when he was really excited.

She turned over the test-stick, and her eyes open wide. Written on the little screen on the white plastic, in small black print, was the single word – PREGNANT.

Both of them had their mouths wide open for a few seconds before they started to stare at each other. "Oh my God…" Nick whispered.


	7. Chapter 7

Nick started fastening the buttons up his coat and tucked his scarf inside, snuggling into the soft fabric. "Are you ready yet?" he said, knocking on the bathroom door.

"Almost…" Zoe's muffled voice called from behind the door.

Nick rolled his eyes and smiled to himself. A few minutes later Zoe emerged, drying her hands on her jeans. "Done?" Nick said.

"Yep. Ready when you are, captain," Zoe replied, raising her hand to her forehead in a mock salute.

"Good. I was beginning to think that you were going to set a personal best time for being late," he mused.

"We're not that late, are we?" Zoe said, checking her watch, "Crap… you driving?"

Nick chuckled. "Stop worrying so much – the midwife will wait."

Zoe had been worried for days about her first scan – what mother wouldn't? But Nick was equally as anxious, as he knew that this baby would be one of the only chances he could get for having a child.

"Zoe Hanna?" the midwife called into the waiting room, putting on a warm smile when she and Nick stood up and walked into the ultrasound room.

"Right, this is going to be a bit cold," the midwife said, squeezing some gel onto Zoe's stomach, which was already starting to resemble a baby belly, although she was still at the stage of just looking fat when she was wearing a few layers.

The midwife pressed the device onto her rounded belly, and only took a few seconds before a fuzzy outline of a tiny person appeared on the screen. Nick squeezed Zoe's hand, and she squeezed back. Their eyes were locked on the screen, and when Zoe looked over at him, his eyes were actually watering. _Ha, I'll never let him forget that he started to cry, _she thought to herself.

"Everything looks alri – oh, sorry, that's not my job," Nick said.

Zoe laughed. "You're not in the ED now, Mr Jordan!" she joked.

The midwife smiled. "Yeah, you're right. Baby's a good size for its age. Would you like to know the sex?"

Zoe bit her lip, looking over to Nick. She hadn't even thought about if she wanted to know, or to wait for it to be a surprise. "What do you want to do?" Nick asked.

"I'm not sure… but I guess I don't wait to spoil it," she replied.

"Yeah," Nick said. He looked over at the midwife. "I think we'll wait and see thanks." He winked at Zoe.

Once they were back at the flat, Nick dumped his shopping bags on the floor. "Why did you have to crave ice-cream?" he laughed, "Couldn't you crave something light, like… like biscuits?"

Zoe sank down into the sofa and switched on the TV. "I dunno – it depends how big the biscuit is!" she chuckled.

Nick slid across the sofa towards her, placing one arm around her shoulders and one on her belly. "Hey, cheeky…" he said, resting his head on hers and kissing her on the cheek.


	8. Chapter 8

_**Sorry the last chapter was a bit short – I've been busy, but I really wanted to update for you guys. Thanks for you lovely reviews **___

"So how's your day off? Lounging on the sofa in front of the TV as usual?" Nick said into his mobile.

"Yeah, the usual. Oh, and did you get any coffee?" Zoe replied, "I just drank the last of the decaff."

"No, sorry… I forgot to take the list and tried to do it from memory," he said, "Did you want me to stop by the shop on the way home?"

"Nah, that's ok. I'll take a walk and get some. I need some fresh air, anyway."

"You sure? I can easily swing by on my way home, you know."

"And I'm pregnant, not dying, you know!" Zoe laughed.

Nick smiled. "Alright. You've convinced me. But be careful."

"Will do. Love you, bye."

Zoe chuckled and ended the call. She pushed herself up and off of the sofa, waddling over to her wardrobe in the bedroom to get her coat. She had promised herself in advance that she would never do the ridiculous walk that you see many pregnant women do – but she realised how impossible it was to walk properly when you had a football sized lump growing out of your abdomen, and gave up.

She struggled to tie the shoelaces on her trainers (the only shoes that she had already owned that she could now fit into, due to her swollen feet) and locked the door of the apartment behind her on the way out. She would usually make an effort to take the stairs up and down to the apartment, but in her condition, she hadn't even bothered trying, and always took the lift.

Once in the shop, she walked around for a while trying to work out where the coffee would be, hoping that she didn't look even more ridiculous when other shoppers saw her walking down the same aisle several times, seemingly lost. Eventually finding the coffee, she placed it on the conveyer belt on the 10-items-or-less till, and swiftly grabbed a Mars Bar from the shelf beside it and placed it next to the coffee.

"HOLD IT! STAY WHERE YOU ARE!"

Zoe spun round as fast as was possible for her, and was face to face with three men in Halloween masks, two of which were carrying guns. She held up her hands, too scared to flee or even say anything.

One pointed the gun at the woman behind the till. "Step away from the till, honey," he growled. She did as she was told and ran to where the man had pointed his gun, and also held up her hands in submission.

The unarmed man jumped over the conveyer belt and started shovelling as much cash as he could into a bag. Suddenly, Zoe felt cold metal touch her cheek. "Hey baby," the other man said, his foul-smelling breath feeling warm against she skin of her face.

Zoe turned to face him, seeing a tall, muscular man wearing a mask resembling 'The Joker' from Batman, who was holding a gun to her cheek. "Why so serious?" he hissed, and he and his companions started laughing.

Zoe stayed where she was, rooted to the spot, as she couldn't move. She couldn't even shiver with fear – she was past that stage now. She didn't just fear for her own life – she had a child to think about now.

"What's going on?" one of the other men shouted, "Hurry up!" he yelled at the man going from till to till, filling up his bag full of as much money as he could carry. Suddenly, a team of armed police officers stormed into the building. Zoe heard the three men curse loudly, and they made a run for it - apart from the man closest to her. He grabbed her and pulled her close to him, holding the gun to her temple. She shrieked, grabbing his arm and trying in a vain attempt to escape. "You're not going anywhere, pretty…" he whispered, his stinking breath warm against her ear. "Listen up!" he shouted suddenly, "Either you're going to let me get out of this place, or this lovely lady here is going to end up with a bullet in her head!"

_**Ohh, the suspense! **_

_**Please R&R and add anything you would like to see in upcoming chapters and if I like it, you never know, I might include it in the story ;D**_


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